Topic archives: healthcare
# How the world of health and medical conferences is changing #
May 17, 2015 1
For those with an interest in social media and healthcare, if you missed the #MedicineSocial conference this past weekend, you can follow the convenor, psychiatrist Dr Helen Schultz, as she tweets about it this week at @WePublicHealth. Among the subjects she will cover are cyberstalking and how to deal with trolls. More details of the […]
Calling innovators and entrepreneurs: Startup Weekend for Health in Brisbane
March 23, 2015
If you’re interested in startups in health, then it looks like you might want to be in Brisbane this weekend. Up to 100 health entrepreneurs will spend 54 hours formulating and pitching a new health-related business at a Startup Weekend for Health. The event is not for profit and organised by volunteers who have backgrounds […]
The Health Wrap: RIP copayment; choice vs culture; future proofing research infrastructure; on matters of evidence
March 14, 2015 1
By Kellie Bisset RIP copayment As Prime Minister Tony Abbott ended ongoing criticisms of the government’s GP copayment proposal by declaring it “dead, buried and cremated”, health groups warned that the sting might just be in the tail. A Medicare rebate freeze until 2018 might save $1.3 […]
The Health Wrap: Co-payments, COAG and cutting costs; racism is unhealthy; health-environment ties; tobacco tussles
June 13, 2014
By Kellie Bisset Co-payments, COAG and cutting costs The release of the COAG Reform Council’s final health report could not have been more timely, given the ongoing Budget fallout and debate around the proposed $7 co-payment. Newly elected AMA president Dr Brian Owler said the report, which showed that 12% of people in disadvantaged […]
The Health Wrap: tackling childrens’ health, food and alcohol industry dramas, and society’s obsession with dieting
March 10, 2014
Melissa Davey Once you’re done with the Health Wrap, be sure to check out this Croakey round-up of health news to make you smile. What about the children? Regulation of alcohol advertising is failing to properly protect children and adolescents, and in some cases is enabling their exposure to alcohol advertising, according to […]
The Health Wrap: Booze battles, drug dilemmas, rethinking service delivery in Indigenous health
November 29, 2013
By Kellie Bisset Battling the booze As the fallout from Schoolies week hit many families across the nation, the debate turned once again to alcohol use by young people and how we might best be able to prevent harm. Professor John Toumbourou from Deakin University argued the case for price increases and discussed the […]
The Health Wrap: Putting social determinants front and centre, the darker side of Halloween, and all things public health
November 1, 2013
By Kellie Bisset Putting the social determinants of health front and centre The impact of social disadvantage on healthcare and other important ‘downstream’ factors was a focus of the past fortnight as Australia marked Anti Poverty Week. This piece on Croakey from Marie McInerney pulls together the findings from Anti Poverty Week research reports […]
The Health Wrap: Climate hell in a handbasket; getting SDOH traction; Indigenous engagement; new ideas in public health
October 8, 2013
By Kellie Bisset Can we avoid going to climate hell in a handbasket? As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its Fifth Assessment Report, warning that preventive steps are critical to address climate warming, Australia’s newly axed Climate Commission re-emerged as the Climate Council after a lightening speed community fund-raising drive that […]
The Health Wrap: Election fever/malaise, care roadblocks, the impact of adversity, hopes and realities for Aboriginal health
September 6, 2013
By Kellie Bisset Election fever – or is that malaise? As Australia goes to the polls, we are slightly more enlightened about the major parties’ approaches to health than we were two weeks ago. But many in health have pointed out during this campaign that their hopes for in-depth discussion and innovative ideas on the […]
Greening healthcare – some case studies and an opportunity to find out more
September 1, 2013
As you may have seen, Croakey has launched @WePublicHealth, a rotated curated Twitter account, as a little experiment in citizen journalism meets public health. Hopefully it will be of interest to Croakey readers, contributors, public health professionals, journalists and community members – really anyone, anywhere with an interest in using Twitter to explore public health […]
Tallying up the losers and winners in healthcare spending; and some suggestions for a healthy fix
August 26, 2013
How can the $120 billion that we spend on healthcare be invested in a way that gets the best and fairest returns for our health? The Australian Centre for Health Services Innovation (AusHSI), based at the Queensland University of Technology, will hold a forum this Thursday (August 29) to stimulate wider awareness about benefits of […]
The Health Wrap: Mending Medicare, system stresses, nanny state debates, an unhealthy climate
August 9, 2013 1
By Kellie Bisset Poll position As the election race began, and those in the healthcare sector wondered if health might get a look-in at any point during the campaign, the Mend Medicare Coalition wasted no time in launching its own campaign calling for reform. As reported by Croakey, the Coalition released a report calling on […]
The Health Wrap: the tobacco stain, wicked obesity problems, a new Aboriginal health vision and more
July 26, 2013
This week’s Health Wrap has been prepared by Melissa Davey, former SMH journalist, prolific tweeter and keen public health observer who has joined me at the Sax Institute in the new role of Communications Manager. This expansion of the Croakey Health Wrap team is well timed given the amount of health news being produced and […]
On the contradiction at the heart of our search for better leadership
June 30, 2013 2
This post brings together a range of reflections upon leadership – with some specific references to health – in these tumultuous times in national politics. It is deeply sad but also somehow fitting to be compiling this post while watching the State Memorial Service for the late Dr Yunupingu, who gave us such an inspiring example of […]
It’s all just a social media and medicine storm in a teacup, says one surgical Tweeter
April 5, 2013
Online debate about doctors’ use of social media has been running hot in the wake of new guidance from the General Medical Council in the UK. In the article below, Sydney surgeon Dr Henry Woo (@drhwoo) suggests that many of the concerns amount to a “storm in a teacup”. *** “The vast majority of doctors […]
The latest news from primary health care research: the impact of dementia on couples; and a six-step plan for creating equitable health care
February 22, 2013
The latest articles profiled by the Primary Health Care Research & Information Service include: • The impact of dementia upon married couples – findings from a qualitative systematic review; and • A roadmap for delivering equitable healthcare. *** ‘Pieces of me missing’: emotional losses arising from the impact of dementia on marriage Christina Hagger writes: Inexorable impairment […]
Speaking up for the potential of patient advocates
January 26, 2013
The AMA should reconsider its opposition to the concept of paid patient advocates, says Anne Cahill Lambert, a prominent health consumer advocate who writes below that many patients could benefit from someone to help them negotiate “the maze of the complex health system”. *** On Dad and Dave, and others who might be helped by […]
As our future heats up, how well prepared is the health sector?
January 25, 2013 1
Australia’s health sector is worryingly under-prepared to respond to the consequences of a projected increase in extreme weather events, such as heatwaves. That is the thrust of a handful of health-related submissions to the current Senate inquiry, Recent trends in and preparedness for extreme weather events. The inquiry by the Senate Standing Committees on Environment […]
On the first national mental health report card, the real question is: what happens now?
December 2, 2012
The first National Report Card on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention is the latest in a long, long line of similar reports and inquiries. It’s time for some real action, according to the commentary below, from: • Vern Hughes of the National Campaign for Consumer Centred Health Care, and • Dr Lesley Russell, a senior research fellow at the […]
Do hospital clinicians have too much power?
November 16, 2012
The distribution of power within the health system has a profound impact upon how the funding cake is divided and to what effect. In the article below, health economist Professor Gavin Mooney suggests that hospital clinicians – and particularly some types of hospital clinicians – wield too much power. He asks: how can we get a […]